On A Backwater Moon
by Rointheta
Summary: On a shopping trip to get Rose a birthday present, the Doctor runs into a future version of her and himself.


**First Time Ficlet Prompt** - "ten/rose first time someone mistook them for a couple"  
**Prompt giver**: anon  
This is unbeta'd, so I apologize for my typos and other mistakes.

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**ON A BACKWATER MOON**

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The Doctor picked up a ring and turned it over in his hand, inspecting the pink, tumbled stone glinting in the sunlight. Ah, good clarity and hard enough to endure a life of daily adventures. He tossed it up in the air and caught it, weighing it in his hand. Yes. Perfect.

"How much?" he asked the vendor.

Her face split into a wide smile. "Fourteen credits and a handshake."

The Doctor huffed. "No. I'm not shaking your hand. I'm a touch-telepath, too, see. I know what you'd try to do. You're not getting my memories."

She pursed her lips. "Very well. _Twenty_ credits."

"Deal." He stuck his hand into the inside pocket of his leather jacket, pulling out the credit stick. "I want it wrapped."

"For your beloved?"

He shook his head. "For a friend. It's her birthday."

The vendor gave him a knowing nod and plucked the stick out of his grip with her tail, putting the ring into a small box and wrapping sparkling paper around it with her hands. "She might become your beloved after this, though. What girl could resist–"

"Mind hurrying up, then?"

"Not in the least." With a few quick moves, the vendor finished her task, and placed the gift and the credit stick on the table in front of the Doctor. "Good luck."

Slipping his things into his pocket, the Doctor gave her a curt nod and headed down the busy street towards the TARDIS. Rose was celebrating her birthday with her friends and he had promised to pick her up the next day. He didn't need to wait, though, did he? Nope! He could use his impressive timeship and skip ahead. He grinned from ear to ear, patting the pocket holding the gift and picturing Rose's smile as she would unwrap it. Radiant and wide–and exactly like the smile on the woman laughing two hundred metres in front of him. Bollocks!

He ducked behind a stall and let out a sharp breath, shaking his head before peeking out to catch a glimpse of Rose. Rose who couldn't _possibly_ be on this backwater moon; yet, there she stood, stroking the arm of a tall pretty boy as she giggled, her wavy hair dancing against the collar of her hoodie. Ah. _His_ Rose had longer hair; this had to be a future version.

She leaned her head against the man's shoulder, looking up at him with adoring eyes, fluttering her lashes. Jealousy roiled in the Doctor's stomach and he couldn't help but snarl. It caught the attention of this stall's vendor, and she slapped his bum with her tail and shooed at him, bushy eyebrows drawn downwards. The Doctor shot off a manic grin and darted across the street to hide behind the corner of a building instead, eyes locked on Rose and her bloke.

The man said something before breaking out in a smile, tilting his head down so close to Rose's a jolt of dread hit the Doctor's stomach. They wouldn't kiss, would they? No. If Pretty Boy knew anything at all, he'd know that the government on this moon had banned public displays of affections _centuries_ earlier. He might not, though... Maybe this daft, silly-haired man would get Rose into trouble!

The Doctor curled his hands into fists and took a step forward to put an end to the oncoming snogging, but relaxed with a sigh and fell back into the shadows when the man straightened up without kissing Rose. He said something else and burst into a fit of giggles with her, leaning on her as she leaned on him, faces still too close for the Doctor's comfort, and a low growl rumbled in his chest. He slipped out into the street to follow them when the man grabbed Rose's hand and tugged her along as he ran down the street. Upping his pace to close the distance between them, the Doctor maneuvered between lifeforms as best as he could without causing too much of a ruckus.

Rose and her bloke kept laughing and looking at each other as they ran, fingers entwined and eyes twinkling. As much as the Doctor had teased her about her pretty boys, he'd never seen her act like this with any of them. She _loved_ this one–and he loved her. The Doctor slumped back, legs shaky, and supported himself by gripping the table-top of a stall. His mind ran ahead of him, working out how _he'd_ been the one to introduce them, or at least make their meeting possible, and how he'd been forced to watch them fall in love, before Rose left him and the TARDIS to travel with this, what, Time Agent?

The couple stopped and he snuck closer to get a better view of the man's wrist when Rose turned her head in his direction. Her eyes widened when they met his, mouth falling open into an 'oh' before curling into a smile. She elbowed Pretty Boy and asked him something, pointing at the Doctor. Pretty Boy replied with a shrug, and Rose waved with her other hand for the Doctor to join them. Grumbling on the inside, he dragged himself forward until he stood face-to-face with the happy couple.

"Doctor!" Rose's eyes roamed over his face, his leather jacket, his hands, his jeans, then back to his face, and she teared up, lips tightening, hands reaching out to touch him. She stilled and clenched her fists, a crinkle forming between her brows. She sighed and let her hands drop, seeking out Pretty Boy's with her left, curling her right around his elbow. "I– God, I thought… Am I allowed to touch him?"

A chill ran through the Doctor, making his hair stand on end. He gulped. Had they been separated? Or, considering her wistful expression, something even _worse_?

Pretty Boy chuckled and leaned forward. "Need a little help, hm?" he said and tapped the Doctor on the forehead.

His touch sparked through the Doctor's mind, lighting up a part of it he hadn't used in a long time, not even with the TARDIS. He staggered back, taking a good look at his future regeneration.

"You're me!" He pulled a disgusted face. "I turn into a _pretty boy_?"

"Well," Pretty Boy said, tilting his head to the side.

The Doctor's eyes lingered at how Rose pressed into his future self's side, at how her breasts crushed against his arm, and now, as his initial shock subsided, he remembered how they'd acted just minutes earlier. The Doctor's chin dropped, warmth spreading in his chest, setting his hearts aflutter. "And we're a _couple_?"

"What?" She let out a laugh too high-pitched to be natural. "What are you on about?"

"This," he said, gesturing at them, at their joined hands.

"We're not," Pretty Boy said.

The Doctor's face fell, shoulders slouching. "Oh."

Rose drew in a sharp breath. "You–" She turned to his older self. "You looked disappointed."

"Eeer–"

"You did! Don't even try to deny it, Doctor. You did!"

"Well–"

"Oh, my god. Do you _want_ us to be a couple?"

Pretty Boy dropped Rose's hand and ran his through his ludicrous hair, eyes looking out over the sea of people bustling around the bazaar. His lips worked without any sound coming out, and the Doctor folded his arms over his chest, snorting at his ridiculous older self.

"Do you?" Rose said with a soft voice, facing the Doctor now. She placed a hand on his arms, rubbing the leather with her thumb, and looked up at him with large, brown eyes and rosy cheeks and, _blimey_, had this moon always been this hot? "Do you really?"

He sputtered out something, glaring at the smug Pretty Boy, who was grinning at the Doctor's incoherency.

"Oh, my god, why haven't you said anything?" She frowned at turned back to Pretty Boy, whacking him on the arm. "All this time and– No." She held her hands up, palms out, and took a deep breath before smoothing out her hoodie with a solid tug on the hemline. "First thing's first–and I can't believe I waited _minutes_ to do this!"

She threw herself at the Doctor, linking her arms around his neck and burrowing her face under the collar of his jacket. She breathed him in with a hum. "God, I miss this smell." Another sniff, nose brushing against his skin. He shivered. "Almost miss that the most, to be honest."

"Well, that's very human, I suppose," Pretty Boy said, rubbing his own neck.

Rose pulled back, adjusting the Doctor's leather jacket before curling her fingers around the lapels. "And now," she said, tugging him closer and pressing her lips to his.

His eyes flew wide open and he gasped, but found himself when he felt her stiffen and begin to move away. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him, holding her close and angling his head to deepen the kiss. Her lips tasted like strawberry lip gloss, fruity, sticky, and sweet; her tongue tasted like toothpaste, her morning tea he always prepared for her, and buttery blueberry scones. The combination should've been unpleasant, but it fired up his senses and he moaned into her mouth, dipping her backwards and sucking on her tongue to get _more_ of it.

"Oi! That's quite enough!"

His future self's harsh tone broke the spell and the Doctor released Rose, keeping his hands on her waist when she wobbled, panting before he remembered that his nifty respiratory bypass had his back.

"Blimey," Rose said, touching her flushed cheeks. "That was… Wow." She gave him a coy smile, fingers dancing up his chest. "Always knew you'd be a good–"

"Yes! _Brilliant_." Pretty Boy took her hand and jerked her back to his side. "But we really should get a move on, and _you_," he said, pointing at the Doctor, "better block these memories, because I have no recollection of this."

"Oi! Don't tug at me like that. God, you're so grumpy when you're jealous." Rose gave him a stern look, then let it soften as she cupped his cheeks. "Aaw. C'mere."

She pushed herself up on tiptoes and brought his mouth down to hers, snogging him with as much fervour as she had the Doctor. Pretty Boy's eyebrows rose to his hairline and he made a squeaky noise, but relaxed a second later and enveloped her with his arms, reciprocating with passion.

The sound of guards running towards them, blowing their whistles and shouting at them to stop this disgusting display of affection _immediately_, reached the two Doctors and Rose, and both took her hand, tugging her in two different directions and urging her to run. She shook her head, tightened her grip around their hands and, quickly surveying their surroundings, pulled her Doctors with her as she sprinted down the only street that wasn't littered with guards.

Soon, the trio stumbled through the doors of his future self's TARDIS and ran up the ramp. Rose plopped down on the jump seat with a laugh, pressing her hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Biting her lip, she watched the Doctors leaning against the console and a smile, that could only be described as predatory, spread on her face.

"So, tell me, Doctors," she said, getting up on her feet and swaying her hips as she moved towards them, "how do Time Lords feel about threesomes?"

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**the end**


End file.
